Documenting women's rights violations by non-state actors : Activist strategies from Muslim communities

In 1945, for example, the statutes of the Nuremberg 8. These and similar references are found in the International Bill of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, [...] The international system the exploitation of prostitution of women (article 6); allows States, however, to enter reservations to provisions of • the right of women, on equal terms with men, to the treaties they have voluntarily ratified and the obliga- participate in the political and public life of the tions they have accepted. [...] One of the best examples of a human rights tool in terms of addressing vio- It is important for human rights activists to argue for the lence against women is the 1994 Inter-American Convention provisions of CEDAW to supersede national laws that do on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence not meet even the minimal requirements of the Conven- Against Women (the Convention of Belem [...] The Court found, as When countering the argument that the State is not re- in other cases, the same type of denials by his captors and the sponsible for violations of human rights by non-state actors Armed Forces, the same omissions of the latter and of the gov- (including in the family), the following points are helpful ernment in investigating and revealing his whereabouts. [...] The State is then required to submit to the Com- mittee, within six months, a written response, including States Parties to the Protocol recognize the competence of information on any action taken in the light of the views the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against and recommendations of the Committee.